Liberating
by candestroy
Summary: Death can be liberating, and it can bring people closer together.


Kiba knew he was going to die today, and frankly, he didn't feel all too good about the thought.

He was sleeping when Naruto opened the door and entered the white room. The sound of the door creaking woke Kiba, but he only watched Naruto out of one eye, leaving the other shut. It was no secret to Naruto that he was awake, but neither of them said anything.

Naruto sat in the chair across the room.

"Shit," Kiba said finally.

Naruto didn't answer.

"I'm dying, then." Kiba said, sounding almost comfortable.

Still, Naruto did not have a response.

"That's gotta be it." Kiba coughed.

"Sh." Naruto insisted.

"They said I'd be all right." Kiba shook his head so slightly as he readjusted himself in the bed. "But I knew they were wrong. Hinata visited yesterday, so I was suspicious then. To see you here…yeah, I know I'm not going to make it. You all know it but they won't tell me, as if it'll give me some comfort not to know that it's my time."

Naruto stood up and reached out for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kiba demanded, unable to raise his voice to actually sound threatening.

"I'm not going to talk to you if you're going to be like this." Naruto said.

"Shit, not like you're going to talk to me anyway." Kiba said. "You haven't talked to me for ten years and suddenly you're here, that's how I know I'm gonna die, especially since Hinata came."

"Stop talking about her." Naruto requested quietly and passively.

"Tell me straight, will you?" Kiba said. "I'm dying. That's what you heard. That's why you're here."

Naruto went back to the chair. "Hinata called me after she visited you yesterday." He said. "She said you weren't high in spirits."

"Bull." Said Kiba. "The doctors said I'm dying."

"That too." Naruto nodded.

Kiba froze. He had been saying it the whole time, but to hear someone else say it seemed somehow more powerful. In an instant, it all sunk in and, in that very same instant, he almost couldn't believe what was going to happen to him.

"Did it make you feel better to hear it?" Naruto whispered, looking down.

"No." Kiba choked, trying to limit how much he revealed.

"What now?" Naruto asked.

"What do you mean?" Kiba said. "I can't do anything. I'm stuck here, the same place I've been stuck for four months, clinging onto life. I guess I'm done clinging, but no one ever told me."

"Have you got a lot of visitors?"

"Yeah. I knew I was dying. It was my fault. Bad karma."

"Don't blame karma. Karma never did anything to you."

"I was stupid." Said Kiba. "I betrayed lots of people. I betrayed you and I betrayed Hinata."

"You slept with Hinata."

Both men stayed still and silent.

"Did I ever apologize for that?" Kiba asked, rolling over to face Naruto.

"No." said Naruto. "She apologized every day of her life, right up until we called it quits, but you never said a word. But I guess part of it was my fault. I wasn't exactly approachable."

"Not your fault." Kiba said. "Wasn't Hinata's fault. My fault. Always mine."

"Who do you think you are?" Naruto said, standing up. "You destroyed my life, and you destroyed Hinata's life. No doubt you destroyed your life too and look at you now. You broke up our friendship so efficiently that you _knew _the only reason I would ever come to see you would be if you were about to die."

"Yeah." Said Kiba. "You need to vent I guess. Why not aim at me? I've only got a few more hours. Soon I'll be gone and you'll feel better. Maybe you two will get back together."

"Kiba, don't make me punch you on your deathbed." Naruto threatened.

"Go ahead." Said Kiba. "You know I deserve it."

Naruto took a deep breath. "I didn't come here to vent." He said. "I just wanted to say goodbye to my best friend."

"Former best friend." Kiba corrected.

"Sure, call it that, bastard." Naruto spat. "I told you that night that you were dead to me but I didn't mean it. You were my best friend then, and I've never been able to find another guy like you."

"Course not." Said Kiba, looking smug. "I'm one of a kind."

"Yeah you are." Naruto sighed heavily, pacing. "You probably think that no one's gonna miss you when you go."

"Probably not." Kiba said. "Unless you've got a contradictory statement."

"Life is what you make of it." Said Naruto. "I made a life after Hinata. You didn't. When you're gone, I'm just going to remember all the good advice you gave me, and all the bad advice you gave me that had good intentions. Even after you die, you'll still be my best friend. Death will be liberating, Kiba. I swear you'll likely enjoy it."

Kiba laughed weakly and promptly stopped himself. "You willing to bet money on that?"

"Will you have money when you're six feet under?" Naruto asked.

Kiba continued to chuckle. "I guess not." He said. "So I can't lose."

The two were quiet.

"I'm gonna miss you, buddy." Naruto said at last.

"I'll miss you too." Kiba admitted. "Too bad it took my death for us to see each other again after ten years. And even though you can probably never forgive me—"

"No way." Said Naruto. "I forgive you."

The two stared at each other for a long, long time.

Kiba knew he was going to die today, but now he felt a little better about it.


End file.
